Madmen, what is your
reproach
?
Augustine - Exposition on the Psalms - v4
And this the mystery for the words are not another, but Thou,
is
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if :
it,
: ?
is is
is
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262 Promises not fulfilled to David point out Christ.
Psalm Thou Who didst promise, Who didst even swear in conde- scension to human doubt, Thou hast promised this, and done thus ! Whence shall I get Thy oath, where shall I find Thy promise fulfilled ? Would then God promise, or swear thus falsely ? and yet why then these promises, and these acts? I answer, that He acted thus in fulfilment of those promises. But who am I , to say this ? Let us see therefore whether it is the language of the Truth ; what I say will not then be without foundation. It was David to whom the fulfilment of these promises in his seed, that is, in Christ, was promised : and as they were addressed to David, men expected their com pletion in David. Further, lest when any Christian asserted these promises to have referred to Christ, another by applying them to David, because he descried the fulfilment of all of them in David, might thus err ; He cancelled, them in David, thus obliging us when we see them unfulfilled in David, to look to another quarter for their fulfilment. Thus also in the case of Esau and Jacob, we find the elder worshipped by
g<<d. 26, the younger, though it is written, The elder shall serve the
23'
younger; so when you see it unfulfilled in those two brothers,
you look for two peoples in whom to discover the completion Ps. 132, 0f wnal God in His truth deigns to promise. From the fruit
of thy body, saith the Lord unto David, shall I
set upon thy seat. He promised from his seed something for evermore:
1Oxf. and Solomon, bom to him, became master of such wisdom
'and tnat tne promise of God respecting the fruit of David's body
such
pru-
Hence. ' and gave room for hoping for Christ; that since God can
was believed to have been fulfilled in him : but Solomon fell,
}iKJngs neither be deceived nor deceive, He might not make His &c. promise to rest in one who He knew would fall, but you might after the fall of Solomon look back to God, and demand His promise. Hast Thou, O Lord, deceived ? Hast Thou failed to fulfil Thy promise ? Dost Thou not exhibit what Thou
hast sworn ? Perhaps God might reply, I swore and promised : but Solomon would not persevere. What then ? Didst not Thou, Lord God, know beforehand that he would not per severe ? Indeed Thou didst know. Why then didst Thou promise me what should be eternal in one who would not persevere? Hast Thou not answered; But ifhis children forsake My law, and walk not in My judgments; if they keep not My statutes, and profane My testament ; yet My
Failure ofcarnal sense leads to the spiritual. 263
promise shall remain, and My oath shall be fulfilled : /have Ver. sworn once in My Holiness, within, in a certain mystery, in -- the very spring whence the Prophets drank, whence they burst forth to us of these things, / have sworn once that I will
not fail David. Shew forth then what Thou hast sworn, give us what Thou hast promised. The fulfilment is taken from that David, that it might not be looked for in that David : wait therefore for what I have promised.
7. Even David himself knew this. Consider his words ; Thou hast rejected and brought him down to nothing. Where then is Thy promise? Thou hast put off Thine anointed. This
expression cheers us, among much that is sorrowful: for the promise of God is still valid; for1 Thou hast put off Thine inon Anointed, not taken Him away. See then what was the fate
of that David, in whom the ignorant hoped for the fulfilment sed of the promises of God, in order that those promises might be ^"(u- more firmly relied upon for their fulfilment in another. Thou
hast put off Thine Anointed: Thou hast overthrown the testa
ment of Thy servant. For where is the Old Testament of the
Jews? where that land of promise, in which they sinned while they dwelt in on the overthrow of which they wandered afar Ask you for the kingdom of the Jews; exists not: you ask for the altar of the Jews; not: you ask for the sacrifice of the Jews; not: you ask for the priesthood of the Jews; itisnot.
Thou hast overthrown the testament of Thy servant, and pro faned his holiness on the earth. Thou bast shewn that what they thought holy, was earthly. Thou hast broken down all his hedges, with which Thou hadst entrenched him for how could he have been spoiled unless his hedges had been broken down Thou hast made his strongholds a terror.
Why terror? That should be said to the sinners, ForsLom. God spared not the natural Irranches, take heed lest Hell,21-
also spare not thee.
All they that go the way have spoiled him that is, all
the heathen that go by the way, meaning, all who pass through
this life, have spoiled Israel, have spoiled David. First of all,
see his fragments in all nations for of the Jews that
said, They shall be a portion forfoxes. For the Scripture calls Ps. 63,
wicked, crafty, and cowardly kings, whom another's virtue terrifies, foxes. Thus when our Lord Himself was speaking of
the threatening Herod, He said, Go ye, and tell that fox. The Lukei3,
:
it is
it
it is
?
by
it
it is
:
if
?
it,
:
it is
QC4 Calamities of the Jewish state.
Psalm king who fears no man, is not a fox: like that Lion of Judab, l"""^' of Whom it is said, Stooping down TIiou didst rise up, and 9. 'didst sleep as a lion. At Thy will Thou didst stoop down, at
Thy will didst rise ; because Thou wouldest, Thou didst sleep.
/'
4' 8' sentence complete, " 1 slept, and took rest, and rose up again,
1 Ego. And thus in another Psalm he says,
slept. Was not the
because the Lord shall uphold Me ? " Why is the word ego added ? and thus with a strong emphasis on the word I, theyI
/
had not slept. Those then concerning whom it was declared that they should be a portion for foxes, are now spoken of as
follows ; All they that go by have spoiled him : and he is become a reproach to his neighbours. (Ver. 42. ) Thou hast
raged against Me, they troubled Me: but had
not willed,
set up the right hand of his enemies, and made all his adver saries to rejoice. Look at the Jews, and see all things fulfilled that were predicted. Thou hast turned away the help ofhis sword. How they were used to fight few in number, and to strike down many. Tftou hast turned away the help
of his sword, and Thou givest him not victory in the battle.
* merito Naturally s then is he conquered, naturally taken prisoner, naturally made an outcast from his kingdom, naturally scat tered abroad : for he lost that land, for which he slew the Lord.
Thou hast turned away the help of his sword, and hast not given him victory in the battle. (Ver. 43. ) Thou hast loosed him from cleansing. What is this ? Amongst all the evils, this is a matter for great fear ; for howsoever God may beat, howsoever He may be wroth, howsoever
He may flog and scourge, yet let Him scourge him bound, whom He is to cleanse, not ' loose him from cleansing. ' For if He loose him
from being purified, he becomes incapable of cleansing,
and must be an outcast. From what cleansing then is the Gal. 3, Jew loosed ? From faith ; for by faith we live : and it is Acts 16 sa^ of ft"1*1, purifying their hearts by faith: and as it 9. is only the faith of Christ that cleanses ; by disbelief in
Christ, they are loosed from purification. Thou hast loosed him from cleansing, and cast his throne down to the ground. And so Thou hast broken it. (Ver. 44. ) The days of his seat hast Thou shortened.
They imagined that they should reign for ever. And covered him with confusion. All these things happened to the Jews, Christ yet not being taken
away, but His advent deferred.
Davidforetells the restoration of his own ' substance? 265
8. Let us therefore see whether God fulfils His promises, ver. After these stern penalties which have been recorded as having 46--47- been inflicted upon this people and kingdom, that God might
not be supposed to have fulfilled His promises in and so
not to grant another kingdom in Christ, of which kingdom there
shall be no end; the Prophet addresses Him in these words,
(ver. 45. ) Lord, how long wilt Thou hide Thyself unto the end?
For possibly was not from them and to the end because blindness in part happened to Israel, until the fulness
the Gentiles be come in, and so all Israel shall be saved. 25' But in the mean while shall Thy wrath burn like fire.
9. Ver. 46, 47. remember what my substance is. That David, who was placed among the Jews in the flesh, in Christ in hope, speaks Remember what is my substance. For not because the Jews fell away, did my substance fail for from that people came the Virgin Mary, and from her the flesh of Christ that Flesh sins not, but purifies sins there, saith David, my substance. remember what my substance
is. For the root has not entirely perished; the seed shall Gal. come to whom the promise was made, ordained by Angels19, in the hand of a Mediator. Remember what my substance
is. For Thou hast not made all the sons of men for nought.
Lo all the sons of men have gone into vanity yet Thou hast not made them for nought. If then all went into vanity, whom Thou hast not made for nought hast Thou not re served some instrument to purify them from vanity This which Thou hast reserved to Thyself to cleanse men from vanity Thy Holy One, in Him my substance for from Him are all, whom Thou hast not made for nought, purified from their own vanity. To them said, ye sons off,. men, how long are ye heavy in heart? Wherefore have ye2' such pleasure in vanity, and seek after leasing Perhaps they might become anxious, and turn from their vanity, and when they found themselves polluted with might seek for
from it: then help them, make them secure. Know this also, that the Lord hath made wonderful His a. 3. Holy One. He has made His Holy One to be admired:
thence He has purified all from their vanity: there, saith David, my substance remember For Thou hast not made all the sons of men for nought. Thou hast there fore reserved something to purify them: and who He
purification
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266 Christ alone delivered His own Sovl from Hell.
Ps^lm Whom Thou hast reserved ? What man is he that liveth, and lxxxix. gfafi n0t see death? This man then who shall live and not see death, shall purify them from nothingness. For He made
not all men for nought, nor can He Who made them so de spise His own creatures, as not to convert and purify them.
10. Ver. 48. What man is he that shall live, and shall not Rom. 6, see death? For being raised from the dead He dieth no
:''
Ps. 16, in another Psalm it is said, Thou shall not leave my soul in
more, and death hath no more dominion over Him. And as
I0'
ruption, the Apostolic teaching takes up this testimony, Acts 2, and in the Acts of the Apostles thus argues against the un-
w'
Hell, neither shalt Thou suffer Thy Holy One to see cor
believing ; Men and brethren, we know that the patriarch David is dead and buried, and his flesh hath seen corruption. Therefore it cannot be said of him, neither shalt Thou suffer
Thy Holy One to see corruption. Of whom then is it said ?
What man is he that shall live, and shall not see death ? Perhaps there is no man such. Nay, but ivho is it ? is said
to make thee enquire, not despair. But perhaps there may be some man that shall live, and shall not see death, and yet perhaps he did not speak of Christ, Who died ? There is no man that shall live, and shall not see death, except Him Who died for mortals. That thou mayest be assured that it is said of Him, consider the sequel ; What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? Did He never die then ? He did. How then shall He live, and never see death ? He shall deliver His own soul from the hands of Hell. He is spoken of alone indeed, in that He alone of all others shall live, and shall not see death: He shall deliver His own soul from the hand of Hell, because although the rest of His faith ful shall rise from the dead, and shall themselves live for evermore, without seeing death ; yet they shall not themselves deliver their own souls from the hands of Hell. He Who delivers His own soul from the hands of Hell, Himself delivers those of His believers : they cannot do so of
Johnio, themselves. Prove that He deliIvers His own soul. / have
6.
slept,
" g'
No man taketh ' it Me from
for
IMyself
lay
to lay down My and I
have power to lake it power life, again.
but
it down of Myself, and take it again, because it is He
Himself Who delivers His own soul from the hands of Hell. 1 1. Ver. 49. But in the very faith in Christ great difficulties
Christians as such long subject to reproach. 267
occurred, and the heathen in their rage long said, " When Ver. shall he die, and his name perish ? " On account of these --^-- then who have now long believed in Christ, but were destined
to doubt for some time, these words follow, Lord, where are
Thy old loving-kindnesses? We have now acknowledged Christ our purifier, we now possess Him in Whom Thy pro
mises were to be fulfilled ; shew forth in Him what Thou
hast promised. It is He Himself that shall live, and not see
death : Himself Who delivers His own soul from the hand of Hell: and yet we are still in suffering. Thus spoke the Martyrs, whose birthdays we are celebrating. He shall live,
and not see"death : He delivers His soul from the hands of
Hell : yet for Thy sake we are killed all the day long : and Ps. 44, are counted as sheep appointed to be slain. " Lord, where22' are Thy old loving-kindnesses which Thou swarest unto David
in Thy truth ?
12. Ver. 50. Remember, Lord, the rebuke that Thy
servants have. Even while Christ was living, and while He
was sitting on His Father's right hand, reproaches were cast against the Christians : they long were reproached with the name of Christ. That widowed one who brought forth, and is. 64, whose children were more than those of the married wife, Jj ? 4 heard ill names, heard reproaches: but the Church, mul-27. tiplied as she is, extending right aDd left, no longer remembers
the reproach of her widowhood. Remember, Lord, in the memory of Whom there is abundant sweetness. Remember,
forget not. Remember what ? the rebuke that Thy servants
have: and how I do bear in my bosom the rebukes of many people. I went, saith he, to preach of Thee, and I heard reproaches, and bore them in my bosom, because I was ful
filling the -prophecy. Being defamed we entreat : we are iCor. 4, made as the filth of the earth, and are the offscouring of all 13' things unto this day. Long the Christians bore reproaches
in their bosom, in their heart : nor dared resist their revilers ; before, when it was a crime to answer a heathen : it is now a crime to remain a heathen. Thanks be to the Lord ! He remembered our rebukes: He raised the horn of His Anointed on high, He made Him the Wonderful among the kings of the earth. Now no one insults Christians, or if he does, it is not in public : he speaks as if he were still more
268 Christ blasphemed for Hit ' change] not death.
/ bear
13. Ver. 51. Wherewith Thine enemies have blasphemed Thee, O Lard, both Jews and Pagans. Wherewith they have blasphemed. Wherewith have they blasphemed Thee ? With
iChrittithe change of Thine Anointed1. They objected that Christ died, and was crucified.
Madmen, what is your reproach ? Although there is now no one to use it : yet supposing some still remaining that so speak, what is your reproach ? that Christ died ? He was not destroyed, but changed. He is styled dead on account of the three days. Wherewith then have thine enemies blasphemed Thee ? Not with the loss, not with the perdition of Thine Anointed, but with His change. He was changed from temporal to eternal life : He was changed from the Jews to the Gentiles; He was changed from earth to heaven. Let then Thy vain enemies blaspheme Thee still for the change of Thine Anointed. Would that they may be changed : they will not in that case
blaspheme the change of Christ, which displeases them, Ps. 66, since they themselves will not be changed. For there it no
change with them, and they fear not God.
Wherewith Thine enemies have blasphemed Thee, the
change of Thine Anointed.
14. They have blasphemed the change of Christ; but what
*j^xT' dost ^ou answer? (Ver. 52. ) The blessing of* the Lord blessed for evermore. Amen and Amen. Thanks to His mercy', thanks to His grace. We express our thanks : we do
Mas. not give them, nor return them, nor repay them : we f^dh^tere express our thanks in words, while in fact we retain our
sense of them*. He saved us for no reward, He heeded say but, not our impieties He searched us out when we searched
not for Him, He found, redeemed, emancipated us from the bondage of the devil and the power of his wicked angels He drew us to Him to purify us by that faith, from which He releases those enemies only who believe not, and who for that reason cannot be purified. Let those who still remain infidels say every day what they choose day by day they shall be fewer and fewer that remain let them revile, mock, accuse, not the death, but the change of Christ. Do Oxf. Mm. 'Rem tenemus,' while we retain possession of the (unrequited) benefit.
Psilm fearful of being heard, than anxious to be believed. Ixxxrx- in my bosom the rebukes ofmany people.
b
;
;
:
:
ej|>>e
No safety but with God, and with His Church. 269
they not see that, when they say these things, they fail in Vrr.
62,
purpose either by believing or by dying? For their curse is temporal : but the blessing of the Lord for evermore. To confirm that blessing is added, Amen and Amen. This is the signature of the bond of God. Secure then of His promises, let us believe the past, recognise the present, hope for the future. Let not the enemy lead us astray from the way, that He, Who gathers us like chickens under His wings, may foster us: lest we stray from His wings, and the hawk of the air carry us off while yet unfledged. For the Christian ought not to hope in himself : if he hopes to be strong, let him be reared by his mother's warmth. This is the hen who gathers her young together; whence is the reproach of our SIaviour
against the unbelieving Jerusalem, How often would gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not. Behold, your
/<a>>eMat. 23,
house shall be left unto you desolate. Hence was it said, Tfiou hast made his strongholds a terror. Since then they would not be gathered together under the wings of this hen, and have given us a warning to teach us to dread the unclean spirits that fly in the air, seeking daily what they may devour; let us gather ourselves under the wings of this hen, the divine Wisdom, since she is weakened even unto death for her chickens. Let us love our Lord God, let us love His Church: Him as a Father, Her as a Mother: Him as a Lord, Her as His Handmaid, as we are ourselves the
Handmaid's sons. But this marriage is held together by a bond of great love : no man offends the one, and wins favour of the other. Let no man say, " I go indeed to the idols, I consult possessed ones and fortune-tellers: yet I abandon not God's Church ; I am a Catholic. " While thou holdest to thy Mother, thou hast offended thy Father. Another says, Far be it from me ; I consult no sorcerer, I seek out no possessed one, I never ask advice by sacrilegious divination, I go not to worship idols, I bow not before stones; though I am in the party of Donatus. What does it profit you not to have offended your Father, if he avenges your offended Mother ? what does it serve you, if you acknow
ledge the Lord, honour God, preach His name, acknowledge His Son, confess that He sitteth by His right hand; while you
270 The ' Prayer of Moses. ' The two Generations.
Psalm blaspheme His Church ? Does not the analogy of human ------ marnages convmce your Suppose you have some patron, whom you court every day, whose threshold you wear with
Lat. TTTTfT.
l Cor. 10' "'
your visits, whom you daily not only salute, but even worship, to whom you pay the most loyal courtesy ; if you utter one calumny against his wife, could you re-enter his house? Hold then, most beloved, hold all with one mind to God the Father, and the Church our Mother. Celebrate with temperance the birthdays of the Saints, that we may imitate those who have gone before us, and that they who pray for you may rejoice over you; that the blessing of the Lord may abide on you for evermore. Amen and Amen.
PSALM XC.
1. This Psalm is entitled, The prayer of Moses the man of God, through whom, His man, God gave the law to His
people, through whom He freed them from the house of slavery, and led them forty years through the wilderness. Moses was therefore the Minister of the Old, and the Prophet of the New Testament. For all these things, saith the Apostle, happened unto them for ensamples : and they are written for our admonition, unto whom the ends of the world are come. In accordance therefore with this dis pensation which was vouchsafed to Moses, this Psalm is to be examined, as it has received its title from his prayer.
2. Ver. 1. Lord, he saith, Thou hast been our refuge from one generation to another : either in every generation, or in two generations, the old and new: because, as I said, he was the Minister of the Testament that related to the old generation, and the Prophet of the Testament which
John 6, appertained to the new. Jesus Himself, the Surety of that
4C-
covenant, and the Bridegroom in the marriage which He entered into in that generation, saith, Had ye believed Moses, ye woidd have believed Me : for he wrote of Me. Now it is not to be believed that this Psalm was entirely the compo sition of that Moses, as it is not distinguished by any of
1Uteris, those of his expressions' which are used in his songs: but the name of the great servant of God is used for the sake of some intimation, which should direct the attention of the
God isfrom eternity, but takes new relations. 271 reader or listener. Lord, he saith, Thou hast been our ver.
2-
refuge : (ver. 2. ) Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever the earth and the world were made : andfrom age
even unto age Thou art. Thou therefore Who art for ever,
and before we were, and before the world was, hast become
our refuge ever since we turned to Thee. But the expression, before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth
and the world were made, seems to me to contain a parti
cular meaning; for mountains are the higher parts of the earth, and if God was before even the earth were formed, (or,
as some books have from the same Greek word, framed1,) *finge- since was by Him that was formed, what the need of saying that He was before the mountains, or any certain
parts of since God was not only before the earth, but
before heaven and earth, and even the whole bodily and spiritual creation But may certainly be that the whole rational creation marked by this distinction that while
the loftiness of Angels signified by the mountains, the lowliness of man meant by the earth. And for this reason, although all the works of creation are not improperly said to
be either made or formed nevertheless, there any pro
priety in these words, the Angels are made; for as they are enumerated among His heavenly works, the enumeration
itself thus concluded He spake the word, and they were Ps. 14s, made; He commanded, and they were created; but the6- earth wasformed, that man might thence be created in the
refuge from one generation to the other.
3. He adds, how He became our refuge, since He began
to be that, viz. a refuge, to us which He had not been before, not that He had not existed before He became our
For the Scripture uses this word, where we read, God made, or God formed man out the dust of the Gen.
ground. Before then the noblest parts of the creation (for what higher than the rational part of the Heavenly crea tion) were made before the earth was made, that Thou mightest have worshippers upon the earth and even this little, as all these had beginning either in or with time but from age to age Thou art. It would have been better, from everlasting to everlasting for God, Who before the ages, exists not from a certain age, nor to certain age, which has an end, since He without end. But often
body.
is
a
is
; is
is
a :
:
it, it
it
; is
;
of
if
:
is is? ; isit
is
is
it it,
7-
2,
272 God unchangeable. Prayer against temptation.
Psalm happens in the Scripture, that the equivocal Greek word XC- causes the Latin translator to put age for eternity and eternity for age. But he very rightly does not say, Thou
13,
into temptation, He adds, Again Thou sayest, Come again, ye children of men. As if he said, I ask of Thee what Thou hast commanded me to ask : giving glory to His grace, that
wast from ages, and unto ages Thou shall be : but puts the verb in the present, intimating that the substance of God is altogether immutable. It is not, He was, and Shall be, but
Exod. only Is. Whence the expression, I Am thAt I Am : and, I
3 14 ? w.
Ps. 102, AM hath sent me unto you; and, Thou shall change them,
26. 27. and they shall be changed : but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail. Behold then the eternity that is our refuge, that we may fly thither from the mutability of time, there to remain for evermore.
4. But as our life here is exposed to numerous and great temptations, and it is to be feared lest we may be turned aside by them from that refuge, let us see what in
of this the prayer of the man of God seeks for. (Ver. 3. ) Turn not Thou man to loumess : that is, Let not man, turned aside from Thy eternal and sublime things, lust for things of time, savour of earthly things. This prayer is
Mat. 6, what God has Himself enjoined us, in the Prayer, Lead us not
consequence
l Cor. l, he that glorieth, in the Lord he may glory : without Whose
3'
help we cannot by an exertion of our own will overcome the temptations of this life. Turn not Thou man to loumess : again thou sayest, Turn again, ye children of men. But
1precem grant what Thou hast enjoined, by hearing the prayer1 of
Jxaiidi- h'm can at 'east Prav, an(* aiding the faith of the willing endo. soul,
5. Ver. 4. For a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday, which is past by : hence we ought to turn to Thy refuge, where Thou art without any change, from the fleeting scenes around us ; since however long a time may be wished for for this life, a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yester day : not as to-morrow, which is to come : for all limited periods of time are reckoned as having already passed. Hence
Phil. 3, the Apostle's choice is rather to aim at what is before, that
13,
to desire things eternal, and to forget things behind, by which temporal matters should be understood. But that no one may imagine thousand years are reckoned by God as one
a
is,
'A thousand years as one day,' a simile, not a measure. 273
day, as if with God days were so loDg, w hen this is only said Vrr.
~--
in contempt of the extent of time : he adds, and as a watch
in the night: which only lasts three hours. Nevertheless men
have ventured to assert their knowledge of times, to the pre
tenders to which our Lord said, It is not for you to know the Acta l, times or seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power:
and they allege that this period may be defined six thousand years, as of six days. Nor have they heeded the words, are but as one day which is past by : for, when this was uttered, not a thousand years only had passed, and the expression, as a watch in the night, ought to have warned them that they might not be deceived by the uncertainty of the seasons: for even if the six first days in which God finished His works seemed to give some plausibility to their opinion, six watches, which amount to eighteen hours, will not consist with that opinion.
6. Next, the man of God, or rather the Prophetic spirit, seems to be reciting some law written in the secret wisdom of God, in which He has fixed a limit to the sinful life of mortals, and determined the troubles of mortality, in the
following words ; (ver. 5. ) Their years are as things which are nothing worth: in the morning let it fade away like the
grass; in the morning as a herb let it pass by; in the evening let it fall, and be dried up, and withered. The happiness therefore of the heirs of the old covenant, which they asked of the Lord their God as a great boon, attained to receive
this Law in His mysterious Providence. Moses seems to be reciting it ; Their years shall be things which are esteemed as nothing. Such are those things which are not before they are come : and when come, shall soon not be: for they do not come to be here, but to be gone. (Ver. 6. ) In the morning, that is, before they come, as a heat let it pass by; but in the
evening, it means after they come, let itfall, and be dried
up, and withered. It is to fall in death, be dried up in the corpse, withered in the dust. What is this but flesh, wherein
is the accursed lust of fleshly things ? For all flesh is grass, Iss. 40,
and all the goodliness of man as the flower of the field;6'9' the grass withereth, the flower fadeth : but the word of the Lord abide th for ever.
7. Making no secret that this fate is a penalty inflicted for sin, he adds at once, (ver. 7. ) For we consume away in Thy
VOL. IV. T
274 Years assigned to marts life to be spiritualized.
Psalm displeasure, and are troubled at Thy wrathful indignation: we consume away in our weakness, and are troubled from the fear of death ; for we are become weak, and yet fearful to end that
John2l, weakness. Another, saith He, shall gird thee, and carry thee
18'
whither thou wouldest not : although not to be punished, but to be crowned, by martyrdom ; and the soul of our Lord, transforming us into Himself, was sorrowful even unto death: for the Lord's going out is no other than in death.
8. Ver. 8. Thou hast set our misdeeds before Thee: that is, Thou hast not dissembled Thine anger : and our age in the light of Thy countenance. The light of Thy countenance answers to before Thee, and to our misdeeds, as above.
9. Ver. 9. For all our days are faifed, and in Thine anger we have failed. These words sufficiently prove, that our subjection to death is a punishment. He speaks of our days failing, either because men fail in them from loving things that pass away, or because they are reduced to so small a number; which he asserts in the following lines; our years are spent in thought like a spider1 ; (ver. 10. ) The days of our aye are threescore years and ten ; and though men be
1 sicct aranea
bantur so strong that they come to fourscore years, yet is more of ' them but labour and sorrow. These words appear to
express the shortness and misery of this life : since those who have reached their seventieth year are styled old men. Up to eighty, however, they appear to have some strength ; but if they live beyond this, their existence is laborious through multiplied sorrows. Yet many even below the age of seventy experience an old age the most infirm and
v wretched : and old men have often been found to be won derfully vigorous even beyond eighty years. It is therefore better to search for some spiritual meaning in these numbers. For the anger of God" is not greater on the sins of Adam,
Rom. 6, (through whom alone sin entered into the world, and death
12'
by sin, and so death passed upon all men,") because they live a much shorter time than the men of old ; since even the length of their days is ridiculed in the comparison of a thousand years to yesterday that is past, and to three hours : especially since at the very time when they provoked the anger of God to send the deluge in which they perished, their life was at its longest span.
' Seventy' and ' eighty,' the present and the future life. 275
10. Moreover, seventy and eighty years equal a hundred Ver. and fifty ; a number which the Psalms clearly insinuate to ------ be a sacred one. One hundred and fifty have the same relative signification as fifteen, the latter number being composed
of seven and eight together : the first of which points to the
Old Testament through the observation of the Sabbath; the
latter to the New, referring to the resurrection of our Lord.
Hence the fifteen steps in the Temple. Hence in the Psalms,
fifteen " songs of degrees. " Hence the waters of the deluge Gen. 7, overtopped the highest mountains by fifteen cubits: and many 19' other instances of the same nature. Our years are passed in thought like a spider. We were labouring in things cor ruptible, corruptible works we were weaving together: which,
as the prophet Isaiah saith, by no means covered us: the days us. 69, of our years are in themselves threescore and ten : but if in 6-
their strength they come to fourscore years. A distinction is
here made between themselves and their strength": in them
selves, that is, in the years or days themselves, may mean in temporal things, which are promised in the Old Testament, sig
nified by the number seventy; but if not in themselves, but in
their strength, refers not to temporal things, but to things eternal, fourscore years, as the New Testament contains the hope of a new life and resurrection for evermore : and what is added, that if they pass this latter period b, their strength is labour and sorrow, intimates that such shall be the fate of him who goes beyond this faith, and seeks for more. It may also be un- -Herstood thus: because although we are established in the New JTesJament^ which the number eighty signifies, yet still our
life is one of labour and sorrow, while we groan within our- Rom. 8, selves, awaiting the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our23-26' body ; for we are saved by hope; and if we hope for that we
see not, then do we with patience wait for it. This relates to
the mercy of God, of which he proceeds to say, Since thy
mercy cometh over us, and we shall be chastened: for "MeHeb. 12, Lord? chasieneth whom He lovefh, and scour geth every son6'
* Aliud est in ipsis, aliud in poten- that age.
tatibut. c Quoniam supervenit tupernos man -
b St. Augustine seems to refer the suetudo, et corripiemur: the equivalent word amplius to a period beyond the in the Prayer Book so soon passeth eighty years. In the English version away, and we are gone.
clearly applies to the attainment of
T 2
it
it
is,
276 God's wrath mysterious, heaviest when delayed.
Psalm whom He receiveth," and to some mighty ones He giveth a thorn in the flesh, to buffet them, that they may not be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, so
2 Cor. tnat strength be made perfect in weakness. Some copies 12, 7. 9. read, we shall be taught, instead ofchastened, which is equally expressive of the Divine Mercy ; for no man can be taught
without labour and sorrow ; since strength is made perfect in weakness.
1 1. Ver. 11. For who knoweth thepowerofTfty wrath ; andfor the fear of Thee to number Thine anger? It belongs to very few men, he saith, to know the power of Thy wrath; for when Thou dost spare, Thy anger is so far heavier against most men ;
that we may know that labour and sorrow belong not to wrath, but rather to Thy mercy, when Thou chastenest and teach- est those whom Thou lovest, to save them from the torments
p, 10, of eternal punishment : as it is said in another Psalm, " The 3. Lat. sinner hath provoked the Lord : He will not require it of him according to the greatness of His wrath. " Who then knoweth
the power of Thy wrath, or for the fear of Thee how to number Thine anger ? With this also is understood, ' Who knoweth Such the difficulty of finding any one who knoweth how to number Thine anger by Thy fear, that he adds this, meaning that to the purpose that Thou appearest to spare some, with whom Thou art more angry,
that the sinner may be prospered in his path, and receive a heavier doom at the last.
is
? is
if :
it,
: ?
is is
is
is
it
262 Promises not fulfilled to David point out Christ.
Psalm Thou Who didst promise, Who didst even swear in conde- scension to human doubt, Thou hast promised this, and done thus ! Whence shall I get Thy oath, where shall I find Thy promise fulfilled ? Would then God promise, or swear thus falsely ? and yet why then these promises, and these acts? I answer, that He acted thus in fulfilment of those promises. But who am I , to say this ? Let us see therefore whether it is the language of the Truth ; what I say will not then be without foundation. It was David to whom the fulfilment of these promises in his seed, that is, in Christ, was promised : and as they were addressed to David, men expected their com pletion in David. Further, lest when any Christian asserted these promises to have referred to Christ, another by applying them to David, because he descried the fulfilment of all of them in David, might thus err ; He cancelled, them in David, thus obliging us when we see them unfulfilled in David, to look to another quarter for their fulfilment. Thus also in the case of Esau and Jacob, we find the elder worshipped by
g<<d. 26, the younger, though it is written, The elder shall serve the
23'
younger; so when you see it unfulfilled in those two brothers,
you look for two peoples in whom to discover the completion Ps. 132, 0f wnal God in His truth deigns to promise. From the fruit
of thy body, saith the Lord unto David, shall I
set upon thy seat. He promised from his seed something for evermore:
1Oxf. and Solomon, bom to him, became master of such wisdom
'and tnat tne promise of God respecting the fruit of David's body
such
pru-
Hence. ' and gave room for hoping for Christ; that since God can
was believed to have been fulfilled in him : but Solomon fell,
}iKJngs neither be deceived nor deceive, He might not make His &c. promise to rest in one who He knew would fall, but you might after the fall of Solomon look back to God, and demand His promise. Hast Thou, O Lord, deceived ? Hast Thou failed to fulfil Thy promise ? Dost Thou not exhibit what Thou
hast sworn ? Perhaps God might reply, I swore and promised : but Solomon would not persevere. What then ? Didst not Thou, Lord God, know beforehand that he would not per severe ? Indeed Thou didst know. Why then didst Thou promise me what should be eternal in one who would not persevere? Hast Thou not answered; But ifhis children forsake My law, and walk not in My judgments; if they keep not My statutes, and profane My testament ; yet My
Failure ofcarnal sense leads to the spiritual. 263
promise shall remain, and My oath shall be fulfilled : /have Ver. sworn once in My Holiness, within, in a certain mystery, in -- the very spring whence the Prophets drank, whence they burst forth to us of these things, / have sworn once that I will
not fail David. Shew forth then what Thou hast sworn, give us what Thou hast promised. The fulfilment is taken from that David, that it might not be looked for in that David : wait therefore for what I have promised.
7. Even David himself knew this. Consider his words ; Thou hast rejected and brought him down to nothing. Where then is Thy promise? Thou hast put off Thine anointed. This
expression cheers us, among much that is sorrowful: for the promise of God is still valid; for1 Thou hast put off Thine inon Anointed, not taken Him away. See then what was the fate
of that David, in whom the ignorant hoped for the fulfilment sed of the promises of God, in order that those promises might be ^"(u- more firmly relied upon for their fulfilment in another. Thou
hast put off Thine Anointed: Thou hast overthrown the testa
ment of Thy servant. For where is the Old Testament of the
Jews? where that land of promise, in which they sinned while they dwelt in on the overthrow of which they wandered afar Ask you for the kingdom of the Jews; exists not: you ask for the altar of the Jews; not: you ask for the sacrifice of the Jews; not: you ask for the priesthood of the Jews; itisnot.
Thou hast overthrown the testament of Thy servant, and pro faned his holiness on the earth. Thou bast shewn that what they thought holy, was earthly. Thou hast broken down all his hedges, with which Thou hadst entrenched him for how could he have been spoiled unless his hedges had been broken down Thou hast made his strongholds a terror.
Why terror? That should be said to the sinners, ForsLom. God spared not the natural Irranches, take heed lest Hell,21-
also spare not thee.
All they that go the way have spoiled him that is, all
the heathen that go by the way, meaning, all who pass through
this life, have spoiled Israel, have spoiled David. First of all,
see his fragments in all nations for of the Jews that
said, They shall be a portion forfoxes. For the Scripture calls Ps. 63,
wicked, crafty, and cowardly kings, whom another's virtue terrifies, foxes. Thus when our Lord Himself was speaking of
the threatening Herod, He said, Go ye, and tell that fox. The Lukei3,
:
it is
it
it is
?
by
it
it is
:
if
?
it,
:
it is
QC4 Calamities of the Jewish state.
Psalm king who fears no man, is not a fox: like that Lion of Judab, l"""^' of Whom it is said, Stooping down TIiou didst rise up, and 9. 'didst sleep as a lion. At Thy will Thou didst stoop down, at
Thy will didst rise ; because Thou wouldest, Thou didst sleep.
/'
4' 8' sentence complete, " 1 slept, and took rest, and rose up again,
1 Ego. And thus in another Psalm he says,
slept. Was not the
because the Lord shall uphold Me ? " Why is the word ego added ? and thus with a strong emphasis on the word I, theyI
/
had not slept. Those then concerning whom it was declared that they should be a portion for foxes, are now spoken of as
follows ; All they that go by have spoiled him : and he is become a reproach to his neighbours. (Ver. 42. ) Thou hast
raged against Me, they troubled Me: but had
not willed,
set up the right hand of his enemies, and made all his adver saries to rejoice. Look at the Jews, and see all things fulfilled that were predicted. Thou hast turned away the help ofhis sword. How they were used to fight few in number, and to strike down many. Tftou hast turned away the help
of his sword, and Thou givest him not victory in the battle.
* merito Naturally s then is he conquered, naturally taken prisoner, naturally made an outcast from his kingdom, naturally scat tered abroad : for he lost that land, for which he slew the Lord.
Thou hast turned away the help of his sword, and hast not given him victory in the battle. (Ver. 43. ) Thou hast loosed him from cleansing. What is this ? Amongst all the evils, this is a matter for great fear ; for howsoever God may beat, howsoever He may be wroth, howsoever
He may flog and scourge, yet let Him scourge him bound, whom He is to cleanse, not ' loose him from cleansing. ' For if He loose him
from being purified, he becomes incapable of cleansing,
and must be an outcast. From what cleansing then is the Gal. 3, Jew loosed ? From faith ; for by faith we live : and it is Acts 16 sa^ of ft"1*1, purifying their hearts by faith: and as it 9. is only the faith of Christ that cleanses ; by disbelief in
Christ, they are loosed from purification. Thou hast loosed him from cleansing, and cast his throne down to the ground. And so Thou hast broken it. (Ver. 44. ) The days of his seat hast Thou shortened.
They imagined that they should reign for ever. And covered him with confusion. All these things happened to the Jews, Christ yet not being taken
away, but His advent deferred.
Davidforetells the restoration of his own ' substance? 265
8. Let us therefore see whether God fulfils His promises, ver. After these stern penalties which have been recorded as having 46--47- been inflicted upon this people and kingdom, that God might
not be supposed to have fulfilled His promises in and so
not to grant another kingdom in Christ, of which kingdom there
shall be no end; the Prophet addresses Him in these words,
(ver. 45. ) Lord, how long wilt Thou hide Thyself unto the end?
For possibly was not from them and to the end because blindness in part happened to Israel, until the fulness
the Gentiles be come in, and so all Israel shall be saved. 25' But in the mean while shall Thy wrath burn like fire.
9. Ver. 46, 47. remember what my substance is. That David, who was placed among the Jews in the flesh, in Christ in hope, speaks Remember what is my substance. For not because the Jews fell away, did my substance fail for from that people came the Virgin Mary, and from her the flesh of Christ that Flesh sins not, but purifies sins there, saith David, my substance. remember what my substance
is. For the root has not entirely perished; the seed shall Gal. come to whom the promise was made, ordained by Angels19, in the hand of a Mediator. Remember what my substance
is. For Thou hast not made all the sons of men for nought.
Lo all the sons of men have gone into vanity yet Thou hast not made them for nought. If then all went into vanity, whom Thou hast not made for nought hast Thou not re served some instrument to purify them from vanity This which Thou hast reserved to Thyself to cleanse men from vanity Thy Holy One, in Him my substance for from Him are all, whom Thou hast not made for nought, purified from their own vanity. To them said, ye sons off,. men, how long are ye heavy in heart? Wherefore have ye2' such pleasure in vanity, and seek after leasing Perhaps they might become anxious, and turn from their vanity, and when they found themselves polluted with might seek for
from it: then help them, make them secure. Know this also, that the Lord hath made wonderful His a. 3. Holy One. He has made His Holy One to be admired:
thence He has purified all from their vanity: there, saith David, my substance remember For Thou hast not made all the sons of men for nought. Thou hast there fore reserved something to purify them: and who He
purification
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it is
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266 Christ alone delivered His own Sovl from Hell.
Ps^lm Whom Thou hast reserved ? What man is he that liveth, and lxxxix. gfafi n0t see death? This man then who shall live and not see death, shall purify them from nothingness. For He made
not all men for nought, nor can He Who made them so de spise His own creatures, as not to convert and purify them.
10. Ver. 48. What man is he that shall live, and shall not Rom. 6, see death? For being raised from the dead He dieth no
:''
Ps. 16, in another Psalm it is said, Thou shall not leave my soul in
more, and death hath no more dominion over Him. And as
I0'
ruption, the Apostolic teaching takes up this testimony, Acts 2, and in the Acts of the Apostles thus argues against the un-
w'
Hell, neither shalt Thou suffer Thy Holy One to see cor
believing ; Men and brethren, we know that the patriarch David is dead and buried, and his flesh hath seen corruption. Therefore it cannot be said of him, neither shalt Thou suffer
Thy Holy One to see corruption. Of whom then is it said ?
What man is he that shall live, and shall not see death ? Perhaps there is no man such. Nay, but ivho is it ? is said
to make thee enquire, not despair. But perhaps there may be some man that shall live, and shall not see death, and yet perhaps he did not speak of Christ, Who died ? There is no man that shall live, and shall not see death, except Him Who died for mortals. That thou mayest be assured that it is said of Him, consider the sequel ; What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? Did He never die then ? He did. How then shall He live, and never see death ? He shall deliver His own soul from the hands of Hell. He is spoken of alone indeed, in that He alone of all others shall live, and shall not see death: He shall deliver His own soul from the hand of Hell, because although the rest of His faith ful shall rise from the dead, and shall themselves live for evermore, without seeing death ; yet they shall not themselves deliver their own souls from the hands of Hell. He Who delivers His own soul from the hands of Hell, Himself delivers those of His believers : they cannot do so of
Johnio, themselves. Prove that He deliIvers His own soul. / have
6.
slept,
" g'
No man taketh ' it Me from
for
IMyself
lay
to lay down My and I
have power to lake it power life, again.
but
it down of Myself, and take it again, because it is He
Himself Who delivers His own soul from the hands of Hell. 1 1. Ver. 49. But in the very faith in Christ great difficulties
Christians as such long subject to reproach. 267
occurred, and the heathen in their rage long said, " When Ver. shall he die, and his name perish ? " On account of these --^-- then who have now long believed in Christ, but were destined
to doubt for some time, these words follow, Lord, where are
Thy old loving-kindnesses? We have now acknowledged Christ our purifier, we now possess Him in Whom Thy pro
mises were to be fulfilled ; shew forth in Him what Thou
hast promised. It is He Himself that shall live, and not see
death : Himself Who delivers His own soul from the hand of Hell: and yet we are still in suffering. Thus spoke the Martyrs, whose birthdays we are celebrating. He shall live,
and not see"death : He delivers His soul from the hands of
Hell : yet for Thy sake we are killed all the day long : and Ps. 44, are counted as sheep appointed to be slain. " Lord, where22' are Thy old loving-kindnesses which Thou swarest unto David
in Thy truth ?
12. Ver. 50. Remember, Lord, the rebuke that Thy
servants have. Even while Christ was living, and while He
was sitting on His Father's right hand, reproaches were cast against the Christians : they long were reproached with the name of Christ. That widowed one who brought forth, and is. 64, whose children were more than those of the married wife, Jj ? 4 heard ill names, heard reproaches: but the Church, mul-27. tiplied as she is, extending right aDd left, no longer remembers
the reproach of her widowhood. Remember, Lord, in the memory of Whom there is abundant sweetness. Remember,
forget not. Remember what ? the rebuke that Thy servants
have: and how I do bear in my bosom the rebukes of many people. I went, saith he, to preach of Thee, and I heard reproaches, and bore them in my bosom, because I was ful
filling the -prophecy. Being defamed we entreat : we are iCor. 4, made as the filth of the earth, and are the offscouring of all 13' things unto this day. Long the Christians bore reproaches
in their bosom, in their heart : nor dared resist their revilers ; before, when it was a crime to answer a heathen : it is now a crime to remain a heathen. Thanks be to the Lord ! He remembered our rebukes: He raised the horn of His Anointed on high, He made Him the Wonderful among the kings of the earth. Now no one insults Christians, or if he does, it is not in public : he speaks as if he were still more
268 Christ blasphemed for Hit ' change] not death.
/ bear
13. Ver. 51. Wherewith Thine enemies have blasphemed Thee, O Lard, both Jews and Pagans. Wherewith they have blasphemed. Wherewith have they blasphemed Thee ? With
iChrittithe change of Thine Anointed1. They objected that Christ died, and was crucified.
Madmen, what is your reproach ? Although there is now no one to use it : yet supposing some still remaining that so speak, what is your reproach ? that Christ died ? He was not destroyed, but changed. He is styled dead on account of the three days. Wherewith then have thine enemies blasphemed Thee ? Not with the loss, not with the perdition of Thine Anointed, but with His change. He was changed from temporal to eternal life : He was changed from the Jews to the Gentiles; He was changed from earth to heaven. Let then Thy vain enemies blaspheme Thee still for the change of Thine Anointed. Would that they may be changed : they will not in that case
blaspheme the change of Christ, which displeases them, Ps. 66, since they themselves will not be changed. For there it no
change with them, and they fear not God.
Wherewith Thine enemies have blasphemed Thee, the
change of Thine Anointed.
14. They have blasphemed the change of Christ; but what
*j^xT' dost ^ou answer? (Ver. 52. ) The blessing of* the Lord blessed for evermore. Amen and Amen. Thanks to His mercy', thanks to His grace. We express our thanks : we do
Mas. not give them, nor return them, nor repay them : we f^dh^tere express our thanks in words, while in fact we retain our
sense of them*. He saved us for no reward, He heeded say but, not our impieties He searched us out when we searched
not for Him, He found, redeemed, emancipated us from the bondage of the devil and the power of his wicked angels He drew us to Him to purify us by that faith, from which He releases those enemies only who believe not, and who for that reason cannot be purified. Let those who still remain infidels say every day what they choose day by day they shall be fewer and fewer that remain let them revile, mock, accuse, not the death, but the change of Christ. Do Oxf. Mm. 'Rem tenemus,' while we retain possession of the (unrequited) benefit.
Psilm fearful of being heard, than anxious to be believed. Ixxxrx- in my bosom the rebukes ofmany people.
b
;
;
:
:
ej|>>e
No safety but with God, and with His Church. 269
they not see that, when they say these things, they fail in Vrr.
62,
purpose either by believing or by dying? For their curse is temporal : but the blessing of the Lord for evermore. To confirm that blessing is added, Amen and Amen. This is the signature of the bond of God. Secure then of His promises, let us believe the past, recognise the present, hope for the future. Let not the enemy lead us astray from the way, that He, Who gathers us like chickens under His wings, may foster us: lest we stray from His wings, and the hawk of the air carry us off while yet unfledged. For the Christian ought not to hope in himself : if he hopes to be strong, let him be reared by his mother's warmth. This is the hen who gathers her young together; whence is the reproach of our SIaviour
against the unbelieving Jerusalem, How often would gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not. Behold, your
/<a>>eMat. 23,
house shall be left unto you desolate. Hence was it said, Tfiou hast made his strongholds a terror. Since then they would not be gathered together under the wings of this hen, and have given us a warning to teach us to dread the unclean spirits that fly in the air, seeking daily what they may devour; let us gather ourselves under the wings of this hen, the divine Wisdom, since she is weakened even unto death for her chickens. Let us love our Lord God, let us love His Church: Him as a Father, Her as a Mother: Him as a Lord, Her as His Handmaid, as we are ourselves the
Handmaid's sons. But this marriage is held together by a bond of great love : no man offends the one, and wins favour of the other. Let no man say, " I go indeed to the idols, I consult possessed ones and fortune-tellers: yet I abandon not God's Church ; I am a Catholic. " While thou holdest to thy Mother, thou hast offended thy Father. Another says, Far be it from me ; I consult no sorcerer, I seek out no possessed one, I never ask advice by sacrilegious divination, I go not to worship idols, I bow not before stones; though I am in the party of Donatus. What does it profit you not to have offended your Father, if he avenges your offended Mother ? what does it serve you, if you acknow
ledge the Lord, honour God, preach His name, acknowledge His Son, confess that He sitteth by His right hand; while you
270 The ' Prayer of Moses. ' The two Generations.
Psalm blaspheme His Church ? Does not the analogy of human ------ marnages convmce your Suppose you have some patron, whom you court every day, whose threshold you wear with
Lat. TTTTfT.
l Cor. 10' "'
your visits, whom you daily not only salute, but even worship, to whom you pay the most loyal courtesy ; if you utter one calumny against his wife, could you re-enter his house? Hold then, most beloved, hold all with one mind to God the Father, and the Church our Mother. Celebrate with temperance the birthdays of the Saints, that we may imitate those who have gone before us, and that they who pray for you may rejoice over you; that the blessing of the Lord may abide on you for evermore. Amen and Amen.
PSALM XC.
1. This Psalm is entitled, The prayer of Moses the man of God, through whom, His man, God gave the law to His
people, through whom He freed them from the house of slavery, and led them forty years through the wilderness. Moses was therefore the Minister of the Old, and the Prophet of the New Testament. For all these things, saith the Apostle, happened unto them for ensamples : and they are written for our admonition, unto whom the ends of the world are come. In accordance therefore with this dis pensation which was vouchsafed to Moses, this Psalm is to be examined, as it has received its title from his prayer.
2. Ver. 1. Lord, he saith, Thou hast been our refuge from one generation to another : either in every generation, or in two generations, the old and new: because, as I said, he was the Minister of the Testament that related to the old generation, and the Prophet of the Testament which
John 6, appertained to the new. Jesus Himself, the Surety of that
4C-
covenant, and the Bridegroom in the marriage which He entered into in that generation, saith, Had ye believed Moses, ye woidd have believed Me : for he wrote of Me. Now it is not to be believed that this Psalm was entirely the compo sition of that Moses, as it is not distinguished by any of
1Uteris, those of his expressions' which are used in his songs: but the name of the great servant of God is used for the sake of some intimation, which should direct the attention of the
God isfrom eternity, but takes new relations. 271 reader or listener. Lord, he saith, Thou hast been our ver.
2-
refuge : (ver. 2. ) Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever the earth and the world were made : andfrom age
even unto age Thou art. Thou therefore Who art for ever,
and before we were, and before the world was, hast become
our refuge ever since we turned to Thee. But the expression, before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth
and the world were made, seems to me to contain a parti
cular meaning; for mountains are the higher parts of the earth, and if God was before even the earth were formed, (or,
as some books have from the same Greek word, framed1,) *finge- since was by Him that was formed, what the need of saying that He was before the mountains, or any certain
parts of since God was not only before the earth, but
before heaven and earth, and even the whole bodily and spiritual creation But may certainly be that the whole rational creation marked by this distinction that while
the loftiness of Angels signified by the mountains, the lowliness of man meant by the earth. And for this reason, although all the works of creation are not improperly said to
be either made or formed nevertheless, there any pro
priety in these words, the Angels are made; for as they are enumerated among His heavenly works, the enumeration
itself thus concluded He spake the word, and they were Ps. 14s, made; He commanded, and they were created; but the6- earth wasformed, that man might thence be created in the
refuge from one generation to the other.
3. He adds, how He became our refuge, since He began
to be that, viz. a refuge, to us which He had not been before, not that He had not existed before He became our
For the Scripture uses this word, where we read, God made, or God formed man out the dust of the Gen.
ground. Before then the noblest parts of the creation (for what higher than the rational part of the Heavenly crea tion) were made before the earth was made, that Thou mightest have worshippers upon the earth and even this little, as all these had beginning either in or with time but from age to age Thou art. It would have been better, from everlasting to everlasting for God, Who before the ages, exists not from a certain age, nor to certain age, which has an end, since He without end. But often
body.
is
a
is
; is
is
a :
:
it, it
it
; is
;
of
if
:
is is? ; isit
is
is
it it,
7-
2,
272 God unchangeable. Prayer against temptation.
Psalm happens in the Scripture, that the equivocal Greek word XC- causes the Latin translator to put age for eternity and eternity for age. But he very rightly does not say, Thou
13,
into temptation, He adds, Again Thou sayest, Come again, ye children of men. As if he said, I ask of Thee what Thou hast commanded me to ask : giving glory to His grace, that
wast from ages, and unto ages Thou shall be : but puts the verb in the present, intimating that the substance of God is altogether immutable. It is not, He was, and Shall be, but
Exod. only Is. Whence the expression, I Am thAt I Am : and, I
3 14 ? w.
Ps. 102, AM hath sent me unto you; and, Thou shall change them,
26. 27. and they shall be changed : but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail. Behold then the eternity that is our refuge, that we may fly thither from the mutability of time, there to remain for evermore.
4. But as our life here is exposed to numerous and great temptations, and it is to be feared lest we may be turned aside by them from that refuge, let us see what in
of this the prayer of the man of God seeks for. (Ver. 3. ) Turn not Thou man to loumess : that is, Let not man, turned aside from Thy eternal and sublime things, lust for things of time, savour of earthly things. This prayer is
Mat. 6, what God has Himself enjoined us, in the Prayer, Lead us not
consequence
l Cor. l, he that glorieth, in the Lord he may glory : without Whose
3'
help we cannot by an exertion of our own will overcome the temptations of this life. Turn not Thou man to loumess : again thou sayest, Turn again, ye children of men. But
1precem grant what Thou hast enjoined, by hearing the prayer1 of
Jxaiidi- h'm can at 'east Prav, an(* aiding the faith of the willing endo. soul,
5. Ver. 4. For a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday, which is past by : hence we ought to turn to Thy refuge, where Thou art without any change, from the fleeting scenes around us ; since however long a time may be wished for for this life, a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yester day : not as to-morrow, which is to come : for all limited periods of time are reckoned as having already passed. Hence
Phil. 3, the Apostle's choice is rather to aim at what is before, that
13,
to desire things eternal, and to forget things behind, by which temporal matters should be understood. But that no one may imagine thousand years are reckoned by God as one
a
is,
'A thousand years as one day,' a simile, not a measure. 273
day, as if with God days were so loDg, w hen this is only said Vrr.
~--
in contempt of the extent of time : he adds, and as a watch
in the night: which only lasts three hours. Nevertheless men
have ventured to assert their knowledge of times, to the pre
tenders to which our Lord said, It is not for you to know the Acta l, times or seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power:
and they allege that this period may be defined six thousand years, as of six days. Nor have they heeded the words, are but as one day which is past by : for, when this was uttered, not a thousand years only had passed, and the expression, as a watch in the night, ought to have warned them that they might not be deceived by the uncertainty of the seasons: for even if the six first days in which God finished His works seemed to give some plausibility to their opinion, six watches, which amount to eighteen hours, will not consist with that opinion.
6. Next, the man of God, or rather the Prophetic spirit, seems to be reciting some law written in the secret wisdom of God, in which He has fixed a limit to the sinful life of mortals, and determined the troubles of mortality, in the
following words ; (ver. 5. ) Their years are as things which are nothing worth: in the morning let it fade away like the
grass; in the morning as a herb let it pass by; in the evening let it fall, and be dried up, and withered. The happiness therefore of the heirs of the old covenant, which they asked of the Lord their God as a great boon, attained to receive
this Law in His mysterious Providence. Moses seems to be reciting it ; Their years shall be things which are esteemed as nothing. Such are those things which are not before they are come : and when come, shall soon not be: for they do not come to be here, but to be gone. (Ver. 6. ) In the morning, that is, before they come, as a heat let it pass by; but in the
evening, it means after they come, let itfall, and be dried
up, and withered. It is to fall in death, be dried up in the corpse, withered in the dust. What is this but flesh, wherein
is the accursed lust of fleshly things ? For all flesh is grass, Iss. 40,
and all the goodliness of man as the flower of the field;6'9' the grass withereth, the flower fadeth : but the word of the Lord abide th for ever.
7. Making no secret that this fate is a penalty inflicted for sin, he adds at once, (ver. 7. ) For we consume away in Thy
VOL. IV. T
274 Years assigned to marts life to be spiritualized.
Psalm displeasure, and are troubled at Thy wrathful indignation: we consume away in our weakness, and are troubled from the fear of death ; for we are become weak, and yet fearful to end that
John2l, weakness. Another, saith He, shall gird thee, and carry thee
18'
whither thou wouldest not : although not to be punished, but to be crowned, by martyrdom ; and the soul of our Lord, transforming us into Himself, was sorrowful even unto death: for the Lord's going out is no other than in death.
8. Ver. 8. Thou hast set our misdeeds before Thee: that is, Thou hast not dissembled Thine anger : and our age in the light of Thy countenance. The light of Thy countenance answers to before Thee, and to our misdeeds, as above.
9. Ver. 9. For all our days are faifed, and in Thine anger we have failed. These words sufficiently prove, that our subjection to death is a punishment. He speaks of our days failing, either because men fail in them from loving things that pass away, or because they are reduced to so small a number; which he asserts in the following lines; our years are spent in thought like a spider1 ; (ver. 10. ) The days of our aye are threescore years and ten ; and though men be
1 sicct aranea
bantur so strong that they come to fourscore years, yet is more of ' them but labour and sorrow. These words appear to
express the shortness and misery of this life : since those who have reached their seventieth year are styled old men. Up to eighty, however, they appear to have some strength ; but if they live beyond this, their existence is laborious through multiplied sorrows. Yet many even below the age of seventy experience an old age the most infirm and
v wretched : and old men have often been found to be won derfully vigorous even beyond eighty years. It is therefore better to search for some spiritual meaning in these numbers. For the anger of God" is not greater on the sins of Adam,
Rom. 6, (through whom alone sin entered into the world, and death
12'
by sin, and so death passed upon all men,") because they live a much shorter time than the men of old ; since even the length of their days is ridiculed in the comparison of a thousand years to yesterday that is past, and to three hours : especially since at the very time when they provoked the anger of God to send the deluge in which they perished, their life was at its longest span.
' Seventy' and ' eighty,' the present and the future life. 275
10. Moreover, seventy and eighty years equal a hundred Ver. and fifty ; a number which the Psalms clearly insinuate to ------ be a sacred one. One hundred and fifty have the same relative signification as fifteen, the latter number being composed
of seven and eight together : the first of which points to the
Old Testament through the observation of the Sabbath; the
latter to the New, referring to the resurrection of our Lord.
Hence the fifteen steps in the Temple. Hence in the Psalms,
fifteen " songs of degrees. " Hence the waters of the deluge Gen. 7, overtopped the highest mountains by fifteen cubits: and many 19' other instances of the same nature. Our years are passed in thought like a spider. We were labouring in things cor ruptible, corruptible works we were weaving together: which,
as the prophet Isaiah saith, by no means covered us: the days us. 69, of our years are in themselves threescore and ten : but if in 6-
their strength they come to fourscore years. A distinction is
here made between themselves and their strength": in them
selves, that is, in the years or days themselves, may mean in temporal things, which are promised in the Old Testament, sig
nified by the number seventy; but if not in themselves, but in
their strength, refers not to temporal things, but to things eternal, fourscore years, as the New Testament contains the hope of a new life and resurrection for evermore : and what is added, that if they pass this latter period b, their strength is labour and sorrow, intimates that such shall be the fate of him who goes beyond this faith, and seeks for more. It may also be un- -Herstood thus: because although we are established in the New JTesJament^ which the number eighty signifies, yet still our
life is one of labour and sorrow, while we groan within our- Rom. 8, selves, awaiting the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our23-26' body ; for we are saved by hope; and if we hope for that we
see not, then do we with patience wait for it. This relates to
the mercy of God, of which he proceeds to say, Since thy
mercy cometh over us, and we shall be chastened: for "MeHeb. 12, Lord? chasieneth whom He lovefh, and scour geth every son6'
* Aliud est in ipsis, aliud in poten- that age.
tatibut. c Quoniam supervenit tupernos man -
b St. Augustine seems to refer the suetudo, et corripiemur: the equivalent word amplius to a period beyond the in the Prayer Book so soon passeth eighty years. In the English version away, and we are gone.
clearly applies to the attainment of
T 2
it
it
is,
276 God's wrath mysterious, heaviest when delayed.
Psalm whom He receiveth," and to some mighty ones He giveth a thorn in the flesh, to buffet them, that they may not be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, so
2 Cor. tnat strength be made perfect in weakness. Some copies 12, 7. 9. read, we shall be taught, instead ofchastened, which is equally expressive of the Divine Mercy ; for no man can be taught
without labour and sorrow ; since strength is made perfect in weakness.
1 1. Ver. 11. For who knoweth thepowerofTfty wrath ; andfor the fear of Thee to number Thine anger? It belongs to very few men, he saith, to know the power of Thy wrath; for when Thou dost spare, Thy anger is so far heavier against most men ;
that we may know that labour and sorrow belong not to wrath, but rather to Thy mercy, when Thou chastenest and teach- est those whom Thou lovest, to save them from the torments
p, 10, of eternal punishment : as it is said in another Psalm, " The 3. Lat. sinner hath provoked the Lord : He will not require it of him according to the greatness of His wrath. " Who then knoweth
the power of Thy wrath, or for the fear of Thee how to number Thine anger ? With this also is understood, ' Who knoweth Such the difficulty of finding any one who knoweth how to number Thine anger by Thy fear, that he adds this, meaning that to the purpose that Thou appearest to spare some, with whom Thou art more angry,
that the sinner may be prospered in his path, and receive a heavier doom at the last.
